Broken
by NinjaGal183
Summary: When the world goes to hell, so do the people with it. That is until I met the group at the prison. Couldn't say I had a really high opinion about the sheriff. But never have I met a man as confusing, stubborn, or infuriating as Daryl Dixon. Even if we did have a few things in common. Daryl/OC, Rick/OC.
1. Run

**Welcome to my first Walking Dead fic! Takes place during season 3. Rating may change depending on how the story goes. Mostly a Daryl/OC story, but I'll try to include as much Rick/OC also. I do intend on following the storyline, but it'll be a little dragged out. I would love it if you guys left a review after reading and let me know if you want to read more.**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE WALKING DEAD SHOW OR COMIC. Any dialogue, characters, settings, scenes, or storylines you recognize from The Walking Dead are NOT owned by me in any way shape or form. The only thing I own is my OCs and any other original content.**

_Bang! Bang!_

Two walkers collapsed several feet in front of me. Though there were still several around us and more appeared through the trees, snarling and wobbling their way over. I couldn't keep fighting like this. Not with Kate under my arm. I stole a glance down at her. She was still clutching her leg as blood continued to soak through her jeans. I didn't have to look through her strawberry blonde hair to know she was pale. The way her thin body struggled to stay against mine already told me how weak she was. The fact that my backpack kept bumping against my elbow didn't help much either. I didn't have much time left. Not enough bullets either for that matter. I struggled to set Kate down against a tree before unbuckling my belt and tossing it on her lap.

"Tie that around your leg. Try to stop the bleeding" I told her.

Kate breathed heavily, but I saw her nod. Her hands scrambled to tie the belt over the gunshot wound in her thigh. I turned my attention back to the walkers and continued to shoot at anyone of them that came close. My heart skipped a beat as I saw one lean over Kate. I shot a bullet right through its temple. Kate shrieked as it toppled onto her knees. She pushed off the dead body and hastily stood up against the tree.

"Stay close to me" I ordered, taking one long stride back towards her.

"I'm trying!" she shouted in agitation, practically pressing her body against my back.

My vision began to get fuzzy and everything around me began to sway back and forth. _Damn, not now!_ I thought. I violently shook my head, only causing dizziness to take over. Felt as though my heart was caught in my throat. My lips were dry and I could barely feel my tongue anymore from lack of water. My hands shook as I raised my gun to another walker's head and pulled the trigger. Kate precariously swayed back and forth. I grabbed hold of her arm to keep her from falling or else she was food for the walkers. One of us had to stay strong and it sure as hell couldn't be her.

_Focus, damn it!_ I cursed at myself. I pointed my gun at another walker that had half of its jaw hanging off the side of its face. The gun made a click sound but shot no bullets. I didn't have time to fix it. Without thinking, I lunged forward and bashed the monster's skull in with the end of my pistol, cringing as blood splattered all over my clothing. You'd think I'd be used to it by now ever since this whole apocalyptic mayhem started.

When I looked back, Kate was struggling to crawl to safety. Several more geeks hobbled towards me, separating the both of us.

"Kate!" I yelled, helplessly backing away until my back pressed against a tree. I kicked up my boot to a biter's chest, just far enough where it wouldn't reach its teeth. I swung my pistol to my left and hit the female biter in the jaw, hitting it clean off but didn't stop her from coming at me. My leg began to shake and my knee was almost touching my chin with the walker snapping its teeth right at my nose. Just then a third one appeared from the trees, it looked from me then to Kate who was trying to scuffle to safety. It limped towards her. "Watch out!" I shouted at her

Kate turned on her stomach and repeatedly tried to kick the walker with her good leg. I tried my best to push away the one in front of me to get to her, but it was no good. MY strength was giving up on me fast. I could see Kate struggling to keep her eyes open as she went in and out of consciousness possibly from too much blood loss. I took my gun and hit against the walker at my left. The walker in front of Kate dropped on its knees, about to take a bite out of her leg. Before I could do anything, even scream, the walker fell on its side with a yellow feathered arrow embedded in its skull and the same thing happened to the one in front of me that was trying to get a bite out of my nose.

Using whatever strength I had in my leg, I pushed it away and collapsed on my knees, panting like a dog. I didn't look up to see who had been the one to shoot the arrows. My side hurt like a bitch and I swear when I looked at my hands, there were four of them. I coughed and blinked several times until my vision was back in focus. I swallowed back what little saliva I had in my throat and rushed to Kate's side. I looked over her arms and legs for any bites. There weren't any.

"Kate?" I managed to croak between coughs "Kate? C'mon, stay with me" I said, shaking her shoulders.

The girl moaned and blinked a few times before her eyes found mine. "No need to be so rough" she said quietly

I breathed out in relief and fixed the jam in my gun before looking back down at her. "You good?" I asked anxiously

"I don't know" she said, reaching down to touch her injured leg.

The sounded of crunching leaves made me remember what happened two seconds ago. I stood up on my heels and spun around, pointing my gun from where I heard the noise. I don't know what I was expecting to see, but I sure as hell wasn't expecting a man with a crossbow. I looked from his choice of weapon to the man that was holding it. His eyes were narrowed and something about the look he had told me he wouldn't drop his weapon so easily. Didn't mean I would either. His clothes were worn and dirty and his brown hair fell a little bit over his ears. His shirt sleeves were ripped off and had an athletic build.

I breathed heavily and tried to keep my feet steady and planted. "Who the hell are you?" I demanded

"I'm the guy that just saved your ungrateful life" he spat "Reckon I should be the one askin' who the hell you are"

I would've retorted back if the sound of more snarling hadn't interrupted us. This time it sounded like there were a lot more. My eyes darted from the man to the trees behind him before lowering my gun at my side and reached down to put Kate's arm around my neck. "C'mon, we gotta go" I told her

"I...I can barely run" she panted

"Yeah you can, you just gotta try" I snapped, feeling really nauseated. I looked down at her leg. This wasn't good. We had to find shelter and water. And we needed to find it fast. I looked back at the man as he shot an arrow right between one walker's eyes. I wasn't so damn sure if we could trust him. He could've been with the others. The man turned around and stared me dead in the eye before looking down at Kate's wound.

"Follow me, c'mon" he said in a low voice

I grabbed both her shoulders and roughly turned her around. "Kate, now you gotta listen to me. Just run. Don't look back. Don't wait for me, just run" I said, my eyes darting to the man few feet ahead of us. Didn't have time to think about whether the hell I should trust him or not. "Go, I'll cover you" I told her and pushed her ahead.

The minute I heard the snarl in my ear, I turned around and whacked my gun against the thing's skull before stomping on its head. I ran behind Kate and tried not to waste whatever bullets I had left. When I turned around, Kate had stopped running with her hands on her knees. Just when I thought she was going to vomit, she collapsed in the dirt. Without thinking I knelt by her side and turned her over. Her eyes were looking everywhere but at me. Then they just closed. My heart dropped as I pressed my thumb to her wrist. A faint pulse drummed underneath my finger.

"Damn" I said, pressing a hand down over her bloody thigh. There had to be some way to get the bullet out, but I couldn't help her here "Kate? Hey! C'mon, don't die on me!" I said, relentlessly patting her cheek.

The man with the crossbow crouched down next to me. "You're gonna have to leave her" he said, shooting an arrow in the eye of a walker.

"No way in hell am I leaving her out here" I told him, grabbing her arm

He looked back at the walkers coming towards us and ran his hand the length of his face. "Damn it" he muttered to himself "Alright, move" he said, taking Kate's arm from me and lifted her over both his shoulders.

I stepped to the side, wary about some stranger holding my sister. "You got her?" I asked cautiously as he stood on both his feet

He breathed heavily and turned to me. "Can you run?" he asked, ignoring my question

"'Bout to find out" I replied back, raising my gun and shot at the nearest walker. Its head jerked back, but the bullet only grazed it. I felt lightheaded and blackness began to cloud around my eyes. Trying to ignore it, I ran as fast as my legs could manage and followed the man on a dirt path. There was something up ahead.

It was a tall fence. A prison.

No, it couldn't be. Hadn't had water in days. My mind was playing tricks on me. I heard a voice, but it sounded like an echo.

"Rick, open the gate!" it shouted

The fence creaked and was being opened by a man with curly black hair. I was about to enter with the other guy when two grimy hands grabbed my shirt and was pulled down on he gravel. The first thing my eyes landed on was blood stained teeth. Adrenaline shot to my head and pulled the trigger of my gun right underneath the walker's chin. I shoved the corpse back with my feet in a panic as more came. More shots rang out but it wasn't from my gun. At least I didn't think so. Could barely tell what was really happening. All I felt was a hand grabbed my sleeve and pull me upward. Dragged or carried, I didn't know. I couldn't feel my own limbs.

Everything around me grew dimmer. A fence slid close behind my heel. The second man was holding an unconscious Kate in his arms, which only made me think Crossbow was the one who pulled me behind the fence. Voices echoed and garbled. I couldn't make them out. There was a third man. Also with black hair, but I couldn't make out the face. My knees buckled and collapsed underneath me. I only felt the hot asphalt against my skin and saw only dark figures leaning over me. Walkers or people, wasn't sure if I cared anymore at this point. I couldn't make them out. Was probably as good as dead too. Everything faded into blackness and I only heard one thing.

A familiar voice. Not one I was happy to hear.

"Said ya wouldn't get far, Miss. America" the voice sneered in its southern drawl.

_Oh god. No. Not you._

**I hit a few writer's block in this one. And I'm sorry if my characters sounded really Mary-Sueish this first chapter, but they will get better I promise. Please leave a review and tell me what you think! Do you want Chapter 2?**


	2. Injuries

**This chapter might be a little boring. It follows what happened last chapter, but things will get more interesting soon!**

Chapter 2:

_THIRD PERSON P.O.V_

The gun landed several inches from her hand before she collapsed on the asphalt with it. Rick turned his head just as he was positioning the other one's legs in the crook of his arm, being careful with the injured one. Glenn began to lightly shake the shoulder of the girl who passed out.

"Hey, you okay?" he said gently

Daryl positioned his crossbow behind his shoulder before taking the collapsed girl's arm and turned her around on her back. She gave no sign of movement. Not even a flinch.

"We gotta get them in the cell block. Glenn, tell Hershel we're comin'" Rick told them.

Glenn gave one quick nod before sprinting towards the cell block. Daryl slipped the gun in the pocket of his jacket before picking up the girl from the ground. Her eyelids twitched for a second, but didn't open. Daryl followed behind Rick who pushed the door open with his hip and let him through first. Both walked through the dark halls, letting only their feet guide them.

"What the hell happened out there?" Rick asked, walking close behind Daryl

"Out huntin', found these two fighting off walkers. That one bleeding like a shot turkey" he explained, referring to the one Rick was carrying "Think the girl called her Kate" he explained

"Kate?" Rick clarified as they came close to the cells.

Before Daryl could answer back, Hershel's voice echoed off the walls. "Rick? What's happened?" he said loudly, using the crutches to hobble by one of the tables as the two men entered.

Rick quickly stepped down the small set of stairs to the wide-eyed and shocked expressions of the people in their group. "We don't know. She's got a gunshot wound in her leg and losing a lot of blood. Carl, clear the table and spread a blanket" he told his son

Carl ran to the pile of clothes and yanked out the first blanket his eyes landed on and threw it over the table. Carol came back with the bag of medical supplies and set it down on the seat next to Hershel as he began to examine the wound. Lori appeared from behind the barred door with a hand on her round stomach.

"I heard gunshots outside, what's going on?" she asked her husband

"Survivors" he answered "One of them with a gunshot. You better stay back"

Lori covered her mouth as the smell of blood gave her a wave of nausea. Rick held her hand and helped her to one of the beds. Daryl made his way around the others towards the cells.

"The wound is deep, but the bullet didn't break into fragments. T-Dog, Carol, I'm going to need you to hold her down. We don't have any anesthetics, so there is a chance she will regain consciousness through this. Daryl, I don't suppose you have any more of your brother's antibiotics?" Hershel asked

Daryl looked over his shoulder at the old man. "Not enough" he replied

"Glenn and I could go down to the infirmary to see there's anything left" Maggie volunteered

"Bring back as many antibiotics you find, this girl will need them" he told his daughter. She nodded to her father as she and Glenn grabbed a shotgun and left to the infirmary. Rick came back into the room as Hershel began to work with the medical instruments. "Is the other one injured too? Bites?"

"None that I can see" Daryl answered, still supporting the other girl in his arms.

"Doesn't mean she doesn't have any" Rick said. Daryl followed him into one of the cells in the far end. "Set her down right there and put these on her" he said, taking his handcuffs out of his back pocket and handed them to Daryl as soon as his hands were free. "We can't take any chances"

Daryl nodded as Rick left the cell and cuffed one of her wrists to the one of the rods of the bunk bed. He stepped back and pushed aside her hair to look for bite marks around her neck area. Her eyes were visibly sunken and skin was warmer than it should've been. His first thought was fever, but if there were any bites or scratches he would've found it by now. Those things weren't exactly subtle about where they gnaw.

The minute Hershel's placed the medical instrument in the wound; the girl opened her eyes and began to scream behind Carol's hand. Rick stood next to Hershel and felt a wave of déjà vu when his own son had been shot and Hershel had to operate on him too.

"Shh, shh, we're not going to hurt you" Carol told her softly

The girl began to whimper as she looked around at all the unfamiliar faces. Rick moved next to Carol's side. "Hey, hey, calm down, listen to me. We don't mean you any harm. We're not trying to hurt you. If you're looking for your friend, she's in one of the cells in that room. She passed out on her way in here, we haven't done anything to her" Rick promised. She breathed heavily and her eyes were wide with fear. Rick tried to go for a different approach. "Is your name Kate?" he asked calmly

"Y-Yes" she managed to say

"Alright Kate, listen to me, my name is Rick and this is Hershel" he said, gesturing to the old man across the table "He's got medical training and he's trying to get that bullet out of your leg. We don't have a lot of alcohol or anesthetics, so we need you to just try and stay calm. Can you do that?"

Kate's eyes looked down to her wound. "It hurts" she said "Take it out, please" she added pleadingly

Rick looked back at Hershel before nodding. He decided it was better he didn't tell her that Hershel was actually a veterinarian.

O-0-o

_Clink_

Hershel carefully put the bullet aside on the table and cleaned his hands on a towel. Kate's eyes were wide and beads of sweat clung to her forehead. She struggled to keep her eyes open as the old man finished wrapping the white bandages around her wound. The worst part was over, but she still felt weak beyond anything. The woman with short hair, Carol, if she remembered right, took one of her arms and helped her sit up along with the black man on her other side. The minute her feet touched the ground, she thought for sure she would collapse, whether from pain or blood loss she didn't know. The two people on either side of her kept her steady though as they helped her limp inside one of the cells. Kate slowly lay down on the mattress, almost immediately relaxing. She hadn't felt this comfortable since this whole thing started. Forgetting about almost everything around her, she let the unconscious feeling take over and shut her eyes.

"What's the status?" Rick asked

"She's lost a lot of blood and will be in and out of consciousness for a while. Whether or not she pulls through will be her decision" Hershel explained, standing outside the door on his crutches.

"'Her decision'?" Lori quoted

He turned his head. "As I have said, she's lost a lot of blood. Enough for her to slip away and die. We don't have the necessary equipment for a blood transfusion. She's lucky enough to be alive this far, now all we can do is wait and see if she decides she wants to pull through" Hershel explained

Lori put a hand over her mouth and exhaled. "I'm just wondering about how she got that wound in the first place" she said quietly

"Didn't get a chance to ask but if she wakes up, we will" Rick told his wife, who looked visibly nervous.

"What about the other one?" Hershel inquired

"Been out cold since she passed out on her way in. No movement" Rick informed

Without saying another word to anyone else, Hershel hobbled into the cell at the far end. Just like Rick had said, she was out cold and wasn't making any sort of movement. The vet leaned his crutches against the wall and tried his best to lean down next to the bed. "Did you ask her name?" Hershel asked

"Didn't get a chance to. Like I said, she passed out on her way in" Rick explained again.

He nodded and muttered a small 'hmm'. Her arm was covered up to her elbow in blood and hung limply off the side of the bed. As carefully as he could, Hershel placed the back of his hand on her forehead. Her skin was warm, though not enough to be necessarily called a fever, and then checked her pulse which seemed normal for the most part.

"I'm going to assume these two women are kin. If this Kate doesn't in fact wake up, I would suggestion not telling her immediately"

T-Dog handed him a damp towel and the vet slowly cleaned off the blood on her arm. When he came down to her wrist, her thumb made the smallest twitch. If he hadn't been paying attention he would've missed it. Hershel knit his eyebrows together and looked more closely at her wrist. Just as he thought, it was swollen. Rick noticed his changed expression and stepped into the cell next to him.

"Something wrong?" he asked

"Her wrist. It's swollen" Hershel said

"Maybe she fell down trying to get away from walkers" T-Dog pointed out from outside

Hershel grabbed for his crutches and stood up again. "Two young women show up, one with a gunshot wound and the other with a swollen wrist, something tells me it had something to do with a lot more than just walkers" he explained, before looking from her to Rick again "I could give you a lot of fancy words, but bottom line, she's dehydrated. She'll need water and lots of it" he told him, before slowly walking out the cell.

Rick pursed his lips before looking back at the unmoving figure on the bed. "Carl?" he called. His son poked his head out from where he was with his mother. "Do me a favor and grab my canteen for me"

Carl nodded to his father and grabbed the canteen before jogging his way over to him. Rick let a small trickle of water dribble on her forehead before checking her pockets for any weapon she might have on her. After not finding anything, he turned around and knelt down to his son's level.

"Carl, I need you to do me a favor. I need you to stay here and keep an eye on, er...our guest. If she wakes up, I want you to give her this" he said, handing him the canteen "Don't let her trick you into taking that handcuff off either, do you understand?" he asked

"Yeah" his son responded back with a nod

Rick grabbed a stool and placed it in the opposite end of the cell before Carl sat down. He walked out of the cell where Glenn was waiting by one of the tables

"What's the status?" Glenn asked curiously

He sighed and looked over his shoulder at both the cells where their new guests currently were. "Both are out cold. According to Daryl, the blonde one's name is Kate. Not so sure about the other"

"Bites?" Glenn inquired

"None that we could see; doesn't mean they're not dangerous. Like I said, they're out cold. If they wake up, no one talks to them" Rick told him, before adding in a whisper "They're the least of our worries right now"

Glenn swallowed and nodded stiffly. When the group first managed to get into this prison, they found six prisoners that had survived. One had been bitten and killed by his own prison mate. Rick had offered to help them clear out a cell block until one of them, named Tomas, had almost beheaded him with a machete. Rick embedded his own weapon into Tomas's head. Axel and Oscar surrendered and swore up and down that they had no part of it. Andrew ran straight into a yard full of walkers. The sixth one, however, got away. The other prisoners called him Snake. He could've been anywhere in the prison as far as Rick known, which was why he was so on edge. Lori, Carol, Beth, and Carl were the only ones that didn't know. Rick was silently hoping this one had possibly run into a yard full of walkers too, but he wasn't putting too much faith into that theory.

Carl sat in the chair disappointedly. He was capable of doing a lot more than just watching over someone. Carl knew that and he was sure his father did too. Beth and Maggie were preparing food. Canned corn and canned beans wasn't a lot, but it was better than what they've usually been eating the past few months. Daryl was walking past the cell when he saw Carl slumping in the chair with the container in his hand and looking visibly disappointed. Carl raised his head when he stepped inside.

"Go on, I'll take it from here" Daryl said.

Carl stared at him for a minute before handing over the canteen and went to join his mother. He sat down in Carl's vacant seat and propped his crossbow against the chair. Girl wasn't moving; no sign she had been up before and tried to pry out of the cuff neither. Daryl shook the container, hearing the water slosh around inside. She didn't have to be passed out to know she had been through hell. Whatever part of her shirt wasn't already covered in splatters of blood was covered with visible spots of dirt. Her sleeves were ripped halfway and her collar was torn, hanging pathetically off her shoulder. Daryl exhaled.

"Alright," he muttered to himself, unscrewing the lid of the canteen. As Daryl lifted her head off the pillow, she stirred. He cautiously pressed the canteen to her mouth. She groaned and moved and turned her head, but he didn't move the canteen away. She stirred again. Using one hand, he folded the pillow to level her head up and held down her free wrist when it came up to retaliate. "Hey, hey, easy now" he said, firmly holding her wrist down on the bed.

For a moment, her sunken eyes opened and found only the canteen. He felt her relax under his grip and swallow the water from the container. When Daryl moved it away, she turned her head to the wall and coughed into her arm. Her eyes were half open and looked at nothing in particular.

"M-Matt..." she croaked out through her dry lips and slow breathing

Now Daryl wasn't exactly sure what to do. Had there been a third person? She could've been hallucinating. She wasn't exactly talking to him. Before Daryl could come up with anything to say, she closed her eyes again. Cautiously, he pressed the back of his hand to her forehead. Her skin was still warm. Daryl stood up and grabbed his crossbow before going over to Rick.

"She say anything?" he asked

"She said somethin', but I don't think it'd answer any questions" Daryl replied "Said a name. Matt"

Rick exhaled. "Keep a close eye on them. I don't like what Hershel said earlier, 'bout it having to do somethin' more than walkers"

"Think they're dangerous?" Daryl asked

Rick sighed and shook his head. "I don't know" he said truthfully

**Please review, tell me what you think! Things will get more interesting next chapter, promise! **

**Hey you! Yeah you, if you're reading this you should check out my other TWD fic: Live Today, Die Tomorrow. ;)**


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